Alpha is a graphic novel, originally published in French and now published in English by The Bucket List. It's a straightly told story about a man who unwittingly becomes a refugee. It's award-winning and it's wonderful; and I'm delighted to have asked the author, Bessora, and the translator, Sarah Ardizzone, a few questions about its development (and themselves).
Today, it's Bessora's turn with a couple of interjections from Sarah when search engines led to things getting out of hand!
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| Bessora talking about Alpha on BBC Authors Live |
WSD: Alpha has become much more than a book. Anything
to say about this?
Bessora: A book
should always be more than a book: it is a 3D universe, a reflection of life,
characters are flesh and blood, with a story bearing a deep theme. Here, it is
a guy who puts his life at stake for a better life: disorders of the world,
migrations, everyone is concerned. I’m so glad to see that this book has a
“life” beyond the book itself.
WSD: I'm imagining that in translating, you're going
to lose 'something' from the original story but gain 'something' in the new
language (aside from a new and different audience!). What do you think you
might have 'lost' but also 'gained' in your translation of Alpha?
Bessora: A translation is an adaptation, and a creation. So it has to betray more or less the original work. I do not believe that Alpha has lost anything in the translation: it is rather a new breath. In the end, when I read it, I recognized my story, but I also felt like I was discovering something new.
WSD: How collaborative a project was Alpha, especially
in terms of the translation? Or did you have to put your trust in Sarah (and
her reputation)?
Bessora: Alpha is a "simple" text, there is
no hidden meaning to words or phrases. Sarah did not need me to explain
anything to her. Trust is implicit: a translator is an author who also
exercises his freedom of creation.
WSD: Without
proficiency in French and without a Sarah, I have used Google translate to read
your biography on your website. It is hilarious and interesting. I don't quite
understand what happened to your reproductive organs but I think it might be
along the lines of madwomen in attics?
Bessora: Ask Sarah what she thinks of Google Translate. I share the same opinion! Maybe you did not understand what happened to my reproductive organs because Google translate did not capture the mood of the text! Hooray, it'll never replace a professional translator!
To tell you everything, I do not remember what I told about my reproductive organs (maybe that they were stressed !).
Sarah Ardizzone: So the greatest description of Google Translate I’ve ever come across was told to me by a Year 6 (final year primary school) student, who I met at a translation workshop in Essex. ‘The thing is, Sarah,’ she informed me with terrifying assurance, ‘Google Translate doesn’t do flair, and it can’t do voice’.
WSD: Have any of your other writings been translated into English?
Bessora: Alpha is the first of my texts to have been translated into English. Others will follow I hope!
WSD: Here’s Bessora, explaining a bit about herself:
Bessora, lunatic author with variable
geography Last book in English : Alpha ! Last book written in French
(but very easy to read for English speaking people…): Nicolas !
Bessora, a fanciful author with variable geography. Tragedy, comedy, short story or comic, she can do it all! Latest comic translated in English by Sarah: Alpha. Last novel in French: Le Testament de Nicolas (Nicolas’s Will)!
SA: Which Sarah
also hopes to translate!
WSD: Looking forward to that, Sarah and Bessora!
Tomorrow, come back for Part 2 to find out more from Sarah Ardizzone about the
background and artistic development of Alpha, and her role in championing it for translation and publication
in English.
*****
You can read WSD's review of Alpha here.
To find out more about Bessora's charmingly funny bio, take a look at her blog - and beware Google translate!
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